My spirit animal you ask? (or you didn’t… but I want to talk about it)…

I call it a “hortle.”

Cross between a horse and a turtle…. wild and free, fast and ambitious but indeed heavily mixed with that super slow and steady bout’. Turrrrlllle and “Myrtle” (my college nickname) go hand in hand. What’s not to love about a turtle? Looks hard on the outside, but really, inside there, you got one soft and squishy situation. Got layers, us turtles. Wise beyond our years (err, ummm, yes?) and never in a hurry. Ever walk with me in a city? Or even on a country dirt road for that matter…… pace is all the same…. “ba dum a dum a duuum”. Never seen the use of a hurried shuffle, more of a relaxed sauntering.

Now, the greatest silhouette for the cold months ahead, named after my very own (rather frigid in the winters time) neck… The Turtleneck.

Tightly adorned around every type of humans neck since the 15th century..athletes- boat enthusiasts- naval officers… later, those self proclaimed “academics” started adorning these high necked knits. Following suit? Artists, philosophers, and the good ol’ feminists made them unisex (bravo, as you always do) and these necks became the smart looking alternative to “tie dressing” for both men and women. Then the little preppy teenage gals got their dirty little hands on them and adopted the “sweater look”. Then there is, of course…. Hepburn, Monroe, Redford, Bacall… the rest is history.

Look at that Turtle. You have won the race yet again. Slow and steady, you have mastered all: the government officials, the thinkers, the crazy artists, the feminists, the teeny boppers, the fashion icons of the big silver screen….and now? Happily wrapped tightly on every editor and model from NYC to London and beyond. Seems there is no wrong way to wear you either… you diverse little animal you.